Most of our recipes are for chicken, this being popular
day in and day out for most busy home cooks.
Any number of cooking methods are available for chicken.
For convenience we divide these into dry cooking (sauté, roast)
and moist cooking (braised, boiled).
This cookbook has a general concentration of recipes in
the moist-cooking category. There are three reasons for
this.
One is that stovetop braising, and its
companion method moist-baking in the oven, are under-used.
Then, these methods allow preparation in
advance, a decided advantage for the busy home cook. By contrast,
sautéed and roasted chicken are superb only if served immediately.
Finally, by concentrating mainly on
moist-cooking, we have been able to look at the field as a whole and
discover a relationship among various recipes in the cookbooks of the
world. There have been many pleasant surprises from this
inquiry.
sauté (no liquid)
braising (little liquid)
stew or ragout (inundation)
The sauté produces delicious chicken morsels.
However, as no liquid is used, the chicken dries out unless served
immediately. This limits its use.
In a stew or ragout the chicken is
covered in liquid. In a stew the chicken is given no preliminary
browning, as it is in a ragout. A ragout is also known in France as a fricassee,
of which coq au vin is a famous example.
Stews and ragouts, immersed in a liquid sauce, stay
fresh for a long time, and are even improved next day. Traditionally,
these are more or less elaborate productions, but they could be done
simply for everyday use.
MIDDLE-MOISTURE
For simplicity and variety, it is hard to beat braising,
or another middle-moisture technique, covered cooking on a bed of
vegetables.
In braising, a small amount of liquid is used. The
chicken is cooked covered on the stove, by the liquid steaming up around
the chicken. The chicken may or may not be given a preliminary browning.
Braising may also be done covered in the oven.
The technique does not seem to be included in the
French classic repertoire, but Marcella Hazan presents a few recipes
from Italy, which she calls pan-roasted chicken. The term came
into being because of the absence of ovens in that country until
relatively recent times. In pan-roasting, the chicken is cooked in a
covered pot on the stove, with just enough liquid added to keep from
drying out.
(To further complicate matters, the Italians also
refer to braised chickens as "fricassees", a confusing
term as French fricassees are totally immersed in liquid. In actual
recipes there seems to be no distinct difference between Italian
fricassees and pan-roasted chicken.)
The Middle Eastern sofrita uses the braising
technique.
In a method somewhat similar to braising, chicken is
cooked on a bed of vegetables. Chicken cacciatora is a
famous example. Here, like braising, the chicken is generally cooked
covered on the stove or in the oven. Little or no liquid is added, but
the large quantity of vegetables supplies moisture during cooking.
A few recipes, such as Chicken Veneto, place the chicken
on a bed of vegetables and cook on the stove without a cover.
THE OVEN
When it comes to roasting in the oven, no
liquid is used. We think of roasting in connection with the whole bird,
but the chicken may be cut up into halves or smaller pieces before
roasting.
MOIST-BAKING
A Hybrid Technique
Baking in the oven, uncovered, with a small amount of
liquid, is a hybrid technique. It is not roasting, because liquid is
used. It is not braising, because there is no cover. Recipes for this
technique are rare, but do exist here and there about the world.
In this unusual method for poultry pieces, both crisp
skin and moist meat are attained. No compromise need be made
between the two. Considering these advantages, the method is
under-reported in most cook books. In our household this has become the
standard.
The method may be used with chicken thighs,
alone or with leg attached, split chickens, split game hens, turkey
wings, turkey thighs.
The moist-baking technique is particularly valuable
for duck legs, and split ducks, which for once can be
baked without drying out. See recipe in the duck section.
Likewise, see turkey section for moist-baked turkey
breast.
Chicken breasts, or supremes, are too small
for this method. Turkey hind quarters are too large and should be
roasted.
Technique
In moist-baking which might also be called open
oven-braising, the pieces are baked in shallow liquid. The skin,
suffused with Port wine, becomes crisp and mahogany-colored, drained of
fat. Meanwhile the meat, cooking in its liquid bath, remains moist and
juicy. If you have baked custard in cups placed in water, you have used
the same principle.
Poultry cooked in this way has staying power
substantially equal to braised chicken. It may be served hot or at room
temperature. You may refrigerate pieces 1 or 2 days and serve them cold.
This is a fine general-purpose method although, in comparison to braised
chicken, it does not lend itself to quite the large variety of
vegetables and finishing sauces.
The method does take some time, about 1 ½ hours, not
much different from a roast chicken in a moderate oven. The cooking is
largely unattended.
A by-product, if you choose, will be a delicious
cooking liquor for sauce or stock.
